A busy day today, away by 0950 – that’s early for us and finish by 3 ish. Six locks, which Viv boldly worked- most of em very deep and very heavy. We sped past the Wedgwood factory – for, yes, we are in the Potteries now! And on to Etruria, Stoke and finally Westport Lake. A good resting point for two reasons – adjacent to the Harecastle tunnel for tomorrow and by a lake for Toby!
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And some very Midland sounding names . .
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Some of the Trent & Mersey was covered in oil – shimmers of oil came thru the surface as we chugged alone – not nice. It’s said it dissolves the protective bitumen paint on the hull. Some quaint bridges too
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The Stoke locks were not very pleasant – low bridges, deep locks …
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View from … the boat
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More reminders of the kilns for the potteries
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Finally, reaching Etruria and the Bone mill, where posh bone china was made from, er, bones – some human bones too apparently!
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Etruria junction, where a right turn goes down the Caldon canal
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There are some potteries still in action, like this one. It even had a cafe outside. Nice. See http://www.princes-regeneration.org/middleport-pottery/visit-us
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According to the guide books and our peeking at Google maps – Westport Lake seemed to be a good mooring point. Visitor moorings with rings. Fairly safe and just a 15 minute chug to that Tunnel. We walked around the lake, saw a giant carp being landed and it gave Toby his promised chill time – a swim. We then carried on walking to the portal; no, not some quantum wormhole that connects us with our Mother planet but the southern portal of the Harecastle tunnel 2926 yds long and a 45 minute journey in the dark!!
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Our mooring point and opposite, the lake (boat is hidden – good idea!)
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Here’s the guy catching his carp
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And here’s our Boggle chilling out
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It was a mile on to the portal but it was a grand day so on we went
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And lots of info about it … it always reminds me of the fairground Ghost Train, as they let you in they the shut the doors! It’s to draw the fumes out, I think.
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We saw this boat emerge as 3 Black Prince hire boats waited their turn, here comes John & Diana on Molly Rose – two New Zealanders, enjoying their UK Summer holiday. One of the best things about this boating lark is meeting other people – especially folk from overseas. We met a boat full of Swedes in Stone and then a Danish couple at Hilmorten – who had hired a boat for 3 months. Shame this country is so paranoid and xenophobic (as seen in this EU referendum) because these guys are fascinating and you can learn so much from them.
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Another milestone, we are edging ever so slowly onwards to the end of the Trent & Mersey
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Ah, the orchids are flowering
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And some local art work … quite like this! And the spikes help.
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We ran the engine for around 5 hours which meant we could run the slow cooker and cook our Sainsbury’s Gammon joint! Left in the pot for another hour and it’s ready – yum! Open the Albariño and let the party begin!